Bulletin Board

Published in the Tacoma WeeklyTuesday, 18 March 2014

SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE

Aside from the promotional benefits, sponsors will be positioning themselves with one of Tacoma’s most prominent service organizations, proving to clients that their business is helping to positively impact the state of this community and those who live in it. Sponsorship levels range from $500 to $5,000, as well as numerous in-kind opportunities. Being a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, all sponsorships and donations to the Rescue Mission are tax deductible.

If you are unable to register or sponsor the race, please consider sending a donation to continue food services at the Mission, including hot meals, safe beds, educational programming and addiction recovery. Thank you for being a blessing to The Rescue Mission and to Pierce County’s homeless men, women and children.

SIX FIRMS INTERVIEWED FOR CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

In the City of Tacoma's search for a firm to facilitate its citywide strategic planning and visioning process, these six firms will moved on to interviews on March 17: Athena Group, LLC of Olympia; Beckwith Consulting Group of LaConner; BDS Planning and Urban Design of Seattle; Community Attributes Inc. of Seattle; Fern Tiger Associates of Oakland, Calif.; and Strategies 360 of Seattle.

The firm that is ultimately selected will guide the development of a Strategic Visioning Plan, which will provide an action plan for the next five years and set the course for Tacoma over the next decade. The plan would also help the city direct its resources toward a defined vision for a future that is reflective of community priorities, considers current and future trends, and bolsters the city’s unique position within the region.

"Tacoma is part of what has been recently dubbed in the national media as one of a dozen 'mega' regions in the United States," said Mayor Marilyn Strickland. "It is home to nearly 10 million people and generates an annual economic output of about $600 billion. The Puget Sound Region alone is forecasted to reach a population of nearly 5 million people with more than 3 million new jobs by 2040. The Strategic Visioning Plan that evolves from this process will not sit on a shelf and collect dust. It will be a plan of action to help ensure that Tacoma is well positioned to fully utilize its assets and identify opportunities to improve the quality of life for residents of our city."

"Civic engagement will be core to the development of the Strategic Visioning Plan," said City Manager T.C. Broadnax. "This will be a process that is accessible and transparent to all, as the City works with residents and other stakeholders to ensure that this plan is a solid, ambitious and viable living document."

The strategic planning and visioning process will address these seven key focus areas: public health and safety; quality of life and livability; economic vibrancy and employment; culture, arts and recreation; educational opportunity and attainment; effective, efficient and economical government performance; and infrastructure, mobility and environmental sustainability.

Additionally, City Council and staff will use public feedback received throughout the civic engagement component of the strategic planning and visioning process to inform the way the City develops its 2015-2016 Biennial Budget and future budgets. The Strategic Visioning Plan will also serve as the overarching document by which all other City plans, policies, programs, and department or individual evaluations are established.

SENATE SENDS GOVERNOR BILL TO ERASE FISHING WAR CONVICTIONS

In what one member called a righting of past wrongs, on March 5 the Washington State Senate gave final legislative approval to a bill that allows tribal members to clear their state criminal records if they were convicted of fishing violations before a federal court ruled that what they were doing actually was legal under federal treaties.

“It is incumbent on us as a society to admit that we were wrong previously – and that we are righting those wrongs,” Sen. Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle) told the Senate in urging approval of House Bill 2080.

The tribal members were arrested during the “Fishing Wars” of the 1960s and 1970s, when they staged “fish-ins” to assert their treaty rights to salmon. But the demonstrations ran afoul of state regulations, and led to clashes with police and wildlife agents and to criminal convictions.

The tribal members were vindicated by a 1974 federal court decision that affirmed their rights to the fish. But the convictions have remained on the record, with negative consequences for the defendants.

Under HB 2080, sponsored by Rep. David Sawyer (D-Lakewood) the tribal members could apply to the courts to have their convictions expunged – and, subject to certain conditions, the measure directs the courts to grant the request if the convictions resulted from the exercise of treaty rights. For those who have died since their convictions, their family members could seek the remedy.

“There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing,” Sen. Jan Angel (R-Port Orchard) said before joining in the unanimous vote for the bill, sending it to governor for signature into law.

THIRD GRADE IS WATERSHED YEAR AT CHARLES WRIGHT ACADEMY

Tacoma teachers Deanne Trummert and Carie Olsen are tromping along a muddy trail in the University of Washington’s Pack Forest. In between them are 27, 8- and 9-year olds, all third grade students at Charles Wright. The teachers move between groups as their students eagerly collect soil samples and note the various plant species.

Over the course of the academic year, the two women will lead their students on 11 outdoor adventures, including this trip to Pack Forest. These excursions into the great outdoors are all part of a yearlong integrated social studies and homeroom science curriculum known as the Nisqually Watershed Project. They’ve taught it jointly since 2001.

“The world we live in is not compartmentalized into academic subjects such as science, language, or history,” said Olsen. “In the real world, content areas overlap and shape our understanding of the world. Our goal is to use the project to encourage critical thinking about our relationship with our surroundings.” Trummert echoes those sentiments and then ads, “It’s also a great example of the school’s culture, which places a high priority on both outdoor education and science.”

Destinations and subjects covered include Mt. Rainier National Park; geology of mountains and volcanoes, glaciers, and the history and management of national parks; UW Pack Forest; forest ecology and management; tree planting in Ohop Valley; collaborating with Nisqually Tribe in salmon habitat restoration; Kobayashi Park; spawning salmon; Alder Dam; hydroelectricity generation and its effects on river communities; Steilacoom Tribal Museum; historical and modern context for local Native American tribes; Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge; how birds evolved to adapt to a variety of watershed habitats; snowshoeing to observe winter adaptations of plants and animals in the harsh environment at the top of the watershed; Job Carr Cabin Museum; local pioneers and the founding of Tacoma; Ohop Pioneer Farm; overnight pioneer living experience; Nisqually Reach Nature Center; and open saltwater and beach habitats – the very end of the watershed.

WSDOT REDUCES SPEED LIMIT ON SR 161

Motorists traveling between Puyallup and Edgewood on State Route 161 (Meridian East) will notice new speed limit signs being installed on Thursday, March 20.

Crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will replace existing 40 mile-per-hour speed limit signs with new 35 mile-per-hour speed limit signs along a 1.5-mile segment of SR 161 between 36th Street East and the Edgewood/Puyallup city boundary.

This change will create a consistent 35 mph speed limit along SR 161 from the King/Pierce County line to the Puyallup River Bridge. The lowered speed limit is permanent and will be enforceable as soon as the signs are posted.

ARTISTS CHOSEN FOR ART MUSEUM’S OUTDOOR ART

Tacoma Art Museum is pleased to announce that artists Marie Watt, Scott Fife, and Julie Speidel have been commissioned to create outdoor sculptures as part of the museum’s building expansion. The works by Marie Watt and Julie Speidel will be unveiled when the new Haub Family Galleries, which will showcase The Haub Family Collection of Western American Art, open in late Fall 2014. The sculpture by Scott Fife will be unveiled in Spring 2015. The building project will double the museum’s gallery space, provide greater art experiences for visitors, and increase the museum’s visibility in downtown Tacoma. Award-winning firm Olson Kundig Architects designed the expansion and redesign.

“We selected proposals from key Northwest artists to create ambitious new works that will activate the spaces around the museum,” said Stephanie A. Stebich, Director of Tacoma Art Museum. “These works will be an inspiration for visitors to Tacoma and the museum for generations to come.”

The three commissioned sculptures will be situated throughout the museum’s campus. Marie Watt will create a sculpture for the southern corner of the Haub Family Galleries. Her work is based on the humble yet significant role blankets play in people’s lives, in Native American communities, and in the settling of the West. Scott Fife’s work will be located directly outside the museum’s new family interactive gallery. His work is a sculpture of a black bear cub and eaglet, two easily identifiable Northwest characters. Julie Speidel will create an installation for the museum’s newly designed lower entrance. Her work is an artistic interpretation of the region’s remarkable geological history.

“Marie Watt, Scott Fife, and Julie Speidel are all well-known to the Tacoma Art Museum community through our exhibitions and their works in our permanent collection,” said Rock Hushka, Director of Curatorial Administration and Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art. “We are especially thrilled to unveil these installations when we open our new expansion later this year.”